


Burnt

by JoTerry



Category: Bleach
Genre: Background Character Death, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:36:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23817019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoTerry/pseuds/JoTerry
Summary: It took a bloody tragedy to connect them to each other again.
Relationships: Kuchiki Rukia/Kurosaki Ichigo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	1. The sky is red

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters.
> 
> WARNING: 
> 
> DO NOT READ if you’re not open to the IchiRuki pairing.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in 2015...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters.  
> WARNING:   
> DO NOT READ if you’re not open to the IchiRuki pairing.

They refused to show him her whole body. By the time they had gotten her out, she was burnt beyond recognition. The only evidence that it was her was the six-petalled flower tattoo on the inside of her wrist which somehow survived the fire with only a thin stripe of black across it. She had called it her  _ shun shun rikka  _ — six fairies in a flower who protected her as a child. Where were they that afternoon?

Why his wife was back at her old apartment when it happened, was beyond Kurosaki Ichigo. She had sold the place six months ago after moving all her baking equipment to their home when she decided to operate her home-baking business from there.

Ichigo glanced at the other body lying under the white sheet a few feet away in the mortuary, also burnt to a crisp. A long red strand of hair dangled from where the head was. There were only two people with fire-engine red hair in this small town of Karakura, as far as he knew. One of them was Urahara Kisuke’s adopted son and that was definitely not him, judging by the length of the body. So that must be…

Squeezing his eyes shut, Ichigo exhales deeply. Why the fuck was his wife found together with Abarai Renji?

Firm, purposeful steps entered the mortuary and jolted him out of his thoughts. He didn’t have to guess whom they belonged to as the petite woman came to a halt at the feet of her husband’s dead body.

Kuchiki Rukia.

* * *

Rukia knew something was wrong when she received a text from her brother at 3.00 pm, demanding where Renji was the whole day. First of all, she was pretty sure he had left the house much earlier than usual this morning for the important board meeting, which Kuchiki Byakuya was chairing. Second…  _ Nii-sama doesn’t text _ , Rukia sighed.

Apparently, he was still at the meeting and he had seen neither hide nor hair of his brother-in-law/chief operations officer today. He had to resort to texting under the table so he wouldn’t disrupt the meeting. 

As busy as she was with all the case files piling up on her desk, Rukia tried calling Renji a few times to find out where he was, but she was met with his voicemail every single time. So when her phone rang two hours later, she was prepared to give him a piece of her mind, only to hear a stranger greeting her with a, “Ms Kuchiki? Mrs Abarai Renji?”

Standing here, in this cold room, Rukia didn’t know what to think. Her rage had not quite subsided and yet she had a million questions running through her head about how her husband had ended up on this steel table. If not for the red head of hair peeking from under the white sheet that wasn’t long enough to cover his entire length, she wouldn’t have believed it was him lying there. 

What was she supposed to do now? Scream at him to wake up? Demand answers from him? Weep? She didn’t know. All she was feeling was numbness. The lady doctor who came in with her to show her the body had left her alone with her thoughts when she didn’t respond to anything the doctor said.

It was a good thing it was Momo’s turn to pick up Ichika from school today. Rukia couldn’t possibly drive in the state she was in. Her brother had immediately sent his chauffeur and bodyguard to take her to the hospital.

“Rukia.”

Tearing her eyes away from Renji, the petite woman turned towards the voice calling her. 

“Ichigo?” She looked at her former classmate quizzically before she realised there was another body next to her husband’s. How could she have missed that? “Your patient?” she asked after clearing her throat. She hadn’t seen Ichigo in ten years but she heard he was a doctor and she supposed this was the hospital he was attached at. He was, after all, standing next to her in his doctor’s coat.

Shaking his head, his reply came out in almost a whisper as if fearing the other two people lying there would hear him, “It’s Orihime.”

“What? How…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s an IchiRuki AU that’s been in my BLEACH fanfiction folder for a long, long, long time. Posting this up now means I’ll be working on two fics side-by-side; the other one being The Dragon’s Queen, which I’d say, is about three-quarter done.
> 
> Do let me know what you think of this. The prologue is short. But the other chapters will be much longer. 
> 
> The reason why I put up that warning at the beginning of this chapter is because every time I wrote an IchiRuki fic, some IchiHime fans would drop nasty hate comments on my review. I don’t scout around for IchiHime fics to instigate ship wars with their shippers and fan fiction authors. Whomever they ship is their business. Life is too short for petty arguments like these. So if you’re not a fan of IchiRuki and you find it hard to keep your angry comments to yourself, do us all — both you and me — a favour and skip this fic and all my other fics. Thank you.


	2. And you're still the same

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Present time...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters.

“He’s 10 years old. What the fuck could he bloody do at that age?” Ichigo cursed into his hands-free kit on the way to the Karakura Primary School.

_ “Just come over as soon as you can and we’ll talk about this.” _

“That’s exactly what I’m doing now, Toushiro!” he huffed, stepping on the brakes at the red light. He was only five minutes away from his son’s school.

_ “It’s Hitsugaya!” _ the guy on the other end of the line snapped. He was Ichigo’s classmate from secondary school and was currently the Principal of the primary school.  _ “You’re lucky Kuchiki’s kid was there to stop him before he broke the nose of the other boy completely.” _

Ichigo exhaled deeply. Of course, Abarai Ichika would always come to the rescue. He didn’t know how he truly felt about that girl covering for his son all the time and getting herself into trouble alongside him. The girl was too much like her mother.

Despite this being a fortnightly occurrence, Ichigo had only spoken to Rukia twice since the fire five years ago. Once at the morgue and once when Toushiro had called them into his office the first time both their kids got into trouble. 

It was always the same thing: Kazui picking a fight with another kid because they teased him about being without a mother and Ichika pulling him away or punching the kid for him. Or the other way around, when other kids called Ichika a bastard — which was far from true.

It wasn’t to say that they were both best friends. They were really not. They both had their own small circles of friends they would hang out with. But whenever there was trouble, it was always only the two of them who would end up at the Principal’s office… along with whomever the kid who got bashed up was. To this day, five bloody years later, it still puzzled Ichigo why the two of them would always have each other’s backs while their own friends deserted them.

Ichigo pulled up at the school’s parking lot to see a heavily-tinted black car dropping off Rukia at the drive way. He waited at his Camry to give her a couple of minutes’ head start before he made his way towards the main building of the school. He hadn’t expected to see her there today. They would usually see Toushiro at different times. He hoped it wasn’t too serious this time. But the Principal did tell him to get to the school immediately.

* * *

“Hey…”

“Hitsugaya- _ san _ ,” Rukia bowed in greeting. “What has Ichika done now?”

The Principal sighed, “I can honestly say she saved the day this time around, actually.”

Rukia surveyed the room where the three Primary Four kids are sitting next to one another. Ichika had her head inclined, not daring to look at her mother, while Kurosaki Kazui was just staring out the window. The boy next to him, though, was in a pretty bad shape. He was covering his nose with a piece of white cloth that was stained bright red. Fresh blood was still dripping from under his hand. He had a swollen eye and a cut above his right brow. 

“What happened to the boy?” she asks Toushiro.

“Kurosaki?”

“No. The other one.”

“Let’s wait for the parents…”

Toushiro was interrupted when a rowdy couple tore into his office and demanded what the meeting was about. The lady gasped when she saw her son’s condition.

“ _ Kami _ ! What happened to you, Kaneki?” she shrieked as she grabbed her son’s face with both hands to inspect his injuries, ignoring his cries of pain.

Removing himself from where he stood next to Rukia, Toushiro approached the distressed mother. “Mrs Takayama…”

“What did these two kids do to my son,  _ Kochou-sensei _ ?” the father practically roared at Toushiro, his eyes glaring accusatively at Ichika and Kazui.

But before Toushiro could say anything, Mr Takayama had directed his murderous look towards Kurosaki Ichigo, whom Rukia hadn’t noticed had come through the door amidst all the chaos.

“You! It’s your son again, isn’t it? Don’t you have any control over him?”

On instinct, Rukia took a step forward, ready to put the man back in his place when she felt Ichigo’s hand gripping her forearm to stop her.

“Takayama- _ san _ . I’m very sorry for whatever Kazui did. to your son. Please take him to my hospital and we’ll tend to his injuries immediately. I’ll cover the medical bills,” he says with a bow.

“Wait a minute, Ichigo…” Rukia began.

“It’s fine. Let’s tend to the boy before he loses too much blood,” Ichigo said, cutting Rukia off and addressing the parents of the boy again. “May I.. may I take a look at his nose?”

“How can we trust you? It’s because of your son that our Kaneki is like that.”

“Hey!” This time, Rukia had put herself in front of Ichigo. “How do we know your son didn’t provoke Kazui?”

“Rukia!” Both Toushiro and Ichigo called out to her at the same time. 

Rukia knew she had probably made things worse but she couldn’t possibly let this remain one-sided without investigating why Kazui had beaten up the boy. That Kaneki kid must’ve instigated it somehow and based on all of their experience the past five years, that was always the case. Neither Kazui nor Ichika would beat anyone up for no reason. 

“Kuchiki- _ san _ , you should be glad we’re not accusing your daughter for being an accomplice. This is between us and Kurosaki- _ sensei _ . Please do not interfere,” Mr Takayama warned.

Glowering at him, Rukia ordered her daughter, “Ichika, tell us what happened.”

Behind her, Ichigo tugged at her elbow. “Rukia, we don’t need to do this. His nose is...” 

“You may check his nose right now but while you’re doing that, Ichika will tell us what happened. We’ll all decide later if the boy was really that innocent or if Kazui was only reacting to an act of bullying,” Rukia said with finality.

Mrs Takayama looked as if she was going to argue but she was stopped by her husband.

“May I?” Ichigo asked again, cautiously approaching the injured kid. When he got a hesitant nod from the father, Ichigo hurried to crouch in front of the boy, carefully tilting his head up while he removed the cloth.

“Ichika.”

The girl jumped a little at her mother’s voice. “Erm… Kaneki called Kazui’s mum something nasty.”

“What was it?” Rukia probed.

“I… You wouldn’t allow me to say those words.”

“Just say it, Ichika,” the petite woman insisted, her eyes staring daggers at the Takayama couple.

“Dead wh-whore…” Ichika stammers, inclining her head again.

His parents gasped in shock and from the corner of her eye, Rukia noticed Ichigo briefly stilled his hand as he was dabbing the cloth on the boy’s nose. 

“You’ll be alright,” he told him, after clearing his throat. Ichigo stood up and turned to his parents. “But we still need to have all his wounds treated at the hospital. Just tell Dr Ishida at the A&E that I sent you there. He’ll do the dressing for him since you don’t trust me to do it.”

Mr Takayama nodded as his wife pulled their son from the chair and hurried towards the door. 

“You’d better teach your kid to use that mouth of his properly if you don’t want him to get punched in the face again,” Rukia remarked when the couple walked by her, eliciting a look of horror from them as they disappeared into the hallway.

Toushiro heaved a long sigh when the three of them had left, glancing from Ichigo to Rukia before settling on the kids. “Go and get your bags and change your shoes. Wait for your parents at the pick-up area.”

“ _ Hai, Kochou-sensei _ .” They both answered, each giving him a respectful bow.

“That worked out, I suppose,” he scoffed, taking his seat behind the desk. 

Ichigo, who had been texting — most probably to Ishida Uryuu, slipped his phone into his pocket and mumbled, “I’m sorry for the trouble. I’ll talk to him again.”

“And fix his bleeding arm, please,” Rukia added.

“His arm was bleeding?” Ichigo must’ve been too concerned about the other kid to notice his own son’s wound.

Toushiro nodded. “He lost balance and fell while he was hitting Kaneki. Ichika took that chance to drag him away.”

“Fuck…”

“Language, Kurosaki.”

“Whatever,” the doctor huffed. “I don’t even know what to do with that kid anymore.”

“It’s not his fault,” Rukia snorted. “That Kaneki kid had it coming.”

Toushiro threw her a glare. “Not helping at all, Rukia. That last thing you said to them… they could report to the authorities that you threatened their son, you know?”

“They are welcome to try.”

“Rukia, being a Kuchiki doesn’t guarantee that you will be spared of any…”

“You, of all people, should know that I never play the Kuchiki card, Toushiro. I’m just saying that they don’t have any grounds to accuse me of anything when their son is the one who runs his mouth.”

“Anyway,” Ichigo cut in, making his way to the door. “I’m going to take Kazui home and have a look at his arm. Thanks for backing us up.” That last bit was directed at Rukia as he briefly stopped before her with a nod.

“You know I wouldn’t back you up if your kid was the one who instigated it, right?” Rukia looked up at him, mentally cursing at their massive height difference. How could he have possibly grown so much taller in the past 15 years? 

Ichigo chuckled. “Yeah, Kuchiki Rukia — always on the side of justice. See you around.”

Rukia watched as he left the room, looking years older than he did when he first came in. She could relate to how exhausted he was raising a kid on his own. At this age, children need their mothers the most. She remembered how Ichigo himself was moody after losing his mother to a car accident at the age of nine. He used to get into fights as well whenever he was picked on for the colour of his hair.

“Are you coming over tonight?” Toushiro asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

“I don’t think so. I’ve got to talk to Ichika.”

He nodded, packing his laptop bag and coming around his table to stand in front of her. “Is she still going for her therapy session?”

“Every Saturday morning. Oh, tell your sister I will be taking her there this week.”

“She’ll be heartbroken that she can’t fulfill her duty as a godmother.”

Rukia scoffed. “Momo can be so dramatic.”

“Yeah, well… that’s how she is,” Toushiro replied distractedly, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his head. 

Having spent 20 years of their lives as friends, Rukia recognised that nervous gesture. She sighed, “Toushiro…”

“What? I was just going to ask you out for a cup of coffee.”

“I know that’s not all you want.”

He grunted in irritation at getting caught again. It’s not his first time trying to trick Rukia into going out with him. “C’mon, Rukia. It’s been five years. You need to move on and be happy.”

“I  _ am _ happy. I just don’t think we should be  _ going out _ going out. We’re too close. It’ll ruin our friendship. Remember what I told you about asking me out like that again? We will never have a cup of coffee  _ ever _ , ever again if you have that kind of intention.”

“We’ve never even tried  _ going out _ going out. How would you know it’ll ruin our friendship?”

Rukia secretly snickered at how she was one of the few ‘privileged’ ones in Toushiro’s life to ever see him whine. She found it amusing but at the same time, she couldn’t encourage him or lead him on to think there was any chance for them to be together. She truly ever saw him only as a friend, at most, a younger brother. 

The child genius was two years younger than her. She had skipped a year herself and ended up in the same year as Ichigo. Toushiro, on the other hand, had skipped three years, earning him a place in their year as well. Momo, Ishida, and Orihime were the same age as Ichigo, while Renji was a year older than them.

“I don’t want to risk it, Shiro. Please. It’s not just us. There’s also Momo and Ichika.”

“Momo sticks to you like glue. Even if anything should happen between the two of us, she would choose you over her own brother.”

“See? I don’t want that to happen either.”

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll walk you out. Ichika must be wondering what her Principal is doing with her mother.”

“Hitsugaya Toushiro!” Rukia seethed at his wiggling snow white brows.

“Fine! Fine! Fine!”

* * *

By the time Ichigo had gone back to the hospital, it was almost 9.00 pm. He had managed to speak to his son about getting too impulsive  _ again _ , dressed his wounds, and made sure he had dinner before sending him up to his bedroom. Yuzu would be at home to watch him as she wasn’t on her nurse’s shift tonight. Otherwise, Ichigo would have to take him to the hospital like what he’d usually do. 

Kazui practically grew up at the hospital -- he’d shower, eat, do his homework, and sleep there. In the first year after his mother died, his grandfather, Kurosaki Isshin had taken a one-year sabbatical leave from his business to look after him as Ichigo was in his final year of housemanship at that time. But that was all Isshin could do for him. The kid had already lost his mother. His father being constantly absent would be even worse for him. Ichigo taking him to the hospital with him was better than Kazui rarely seeing his father. By the time Isshin had gone back to his business, which required lots of travelling outside of Japan, Kazui was ready to go to primary school.

“Kurosaki.”

Ichigo doubled back to the A&E when he heard his name, to find Ishida exiting the automatic doors. “Hey. How was the kid?”

Ishida scoffed. “A bruised eye, a tiny cut over his head, and a bleeding nose. Very mild injuries. Much milder than how you described them in your text. How’s Kazui?”

“He’s fine, I guess,” Ichigo shrugged. “I’m thinking of recording a video of my lecture so I don’t have to repeat it every two weeks.”

“Or you could send him to Kuchiki’s school so he could learn how to fight with his words and not with his fists.”   
“School, my arse. She was threatening the parents on their way out of the office. Did Momo tell you about it?” 

Momo and Ishida have been engaged for a year. They had been together since the last year of secondary school. Ichigo often wondered what had taken the two of them so long to hitch.

“Nope. Hitsugaya came by to check on the boy. He settled the bill,” Ishida replied, going through his phone before showing Ichigo a snapshot of the receipt.

The orange-haired man scowled at the blurry pic. “What? I told them I would pay for his medical bill.”

“It’s fine,” Ishida said, pocketing his phone. “He did it without them knowing. Wouldn’t want you to look bad in front of them. But he said he felt partly responsible as the Principal.”

“Not his fault at all.”

“What are you doing here, anyway? Your shift was over three hours ago.”

“Yeah, but I had to leave much earlier, remember?”

“Go home, Kurosaki. I’ll let Ryuuken know.”

Ichigo snorted, “He’ll burn me to ashes.”

“Nah…” Ishida dismissed him with a lazy wave of his hand. “He has mellowed down quite a lot ever since he found out he has cancer. We had dinner at Momo’s place last Sunday. Imagine that.”

“So you’re taking advantage of your sick old man? That’s not very nice, Ishida,” Ichigo smirked. 

Ishida and his father hadn’t been very cordial with each other after her mother’s passing when he was nine. While he looked a lot like his father, his dark hair and eyes reminded the elder Ishida too much of his wife. Ryuuken couldn’t stand the sight of him for many years. Every time they talked, it would be about Ishida’s future, with a very clipped tone and grave finality from Ryuuken.

“Just go, alright? Do you want me to drag you home?”

“Fine. I’ll go.”

The two cousins walk together towards the doctor’s parking lot to get their cars. Despite the animosity between them during their younger days, Ichigo and Ishida have grown close, especially after the fire. Ichigo had accused the other guy for pitying him but the latter claimed that he just didn’t want Kazui to lose another parent. Sometimes, Ishida would keep an eye on Kazui for him while the boy was staying over at the hospital. The little boy had come to see him as the godfather who was never appointed for him. There were times when he preferred talking to Ishida rather than to his own father.

“How was it with Kuchiki? It was the first time you saw her in ages, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah. She’s still the same little spitfire she was back in school,” Ichigo scoffed, recalling how quick she was to stand up for him at the office even though they haven’t met each other in years.  _ Just like old times _ , he thought.

“And you’re still missing her, huh?” Ishida nudged his elbow at Ichigo.

“Shut up!” Ichigo snarled, scanning around the area to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation. There were some things between the two of them that couldn’t be discussed openly. He heaved a sigh when he was certain there was no one around. Ishida can be quite loud sometimes. 

“You should tell her the truth.”   
“Too soon.”

“Too soon after the fire? Or too soon after  _ that _ incident?”

“Both.”

“It’s been what… 15 years? I’m pretty sure her brother is fine with you now.”   
“It’s not that simple, Ishida. You know Rukia is Kuchiki Byakuya’s pride, right. He would never interfere with her happiness.”   
“Then, why didn’t he allow you to be together?”

“That’s…” Ichigo paused as they’d arrived at Ishida’s car.

“Something you can’t tell me, I get it,” Ishida repeated for the hundredth time, rolling his eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Go home and rest.”   
Ichigo nodded as he stepped away towards his car that was a few feet away. “Don’t tell Momo.”   
“I know. I know. You don’t have to keep telling me.”

Ichigo turned around and shouted back to him as he walked backwards. “Swear on your life!”

“What are you, 10? I won’t tell. Bye!” Ishida hollered back, disappearing into his car.

On his way home, Ichigo allowed his mind to drift back to the first time Rukia had stood up for him so many years ago.  _ Seemed like a century ago _ , he thought with a melancholic smile on his lips.  _ Can’t believe she hasn’t changed after all these years... _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the reviews! There will be plenty of flashbacks for this fic, especially going back to the earlier days when Rukia and Ichigo were both friends back in secondary school. I’ll add a timestamp so we all don’t get confused. Lol!


	3. We were just kids

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 20 years ago...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I do not own Bleach and its characters.

It all happened so fast. One minute Ichigo’s head was smashed into the wall — he could hear the ringing in his ears for a good ten minutes after that — the next thing he knew, his green-haired assailant had landed beside him.

“Who the fuck do you think you are, brat?” He heard Nnoitra Gilga growled at the person who caused his big arse minion to crumple to the ground.

“Leave,” the other person ordered.

_ Ordered!  _

Still in pain and not able to inch a muscle, Ichigo waited to see what would happen. He was currently lying on his side, facing the wall Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez had slammed him against. 

Nobody ‘ordered’ Nnoitra and his gang. They were the most notorious teenagers in Karakura Town. The reason why they kept picking on Ichigo was because they wanted him to join them, claiming they could protect him from all those people who bullied him for the colour of his hair, but he refused. After that, they were the ones who would beat him up whenever they felt like it.

Nnoitra growled again as he tugged a groaning Grimmjow off the ground.

_ Wait, what? They are actually leaving? Who  _ was _ this person?  _ Ichigo thought, aching to find out but at the same time, not having the energy to turn around.

“This isn’t over, bitch. Karakura is a bloody small town. We’ll find you again soon enough.”

Ichigo listened as four sets of footsteps left the alley they had dragged him in on his way to school earlier. Speaking of school, he really should get going. It’s his first day in Karakura Secondary School. He mentally cursed at the fact that he couldn’t even get through his first day without running into trouble.

“Ichigo- _ kun _ , are you alright? It’s a good thing we saw you before they did anything worse.”

Struggling to push himself up, he managed to turn around to see his classmate from primary school, Hinamori Momo rushing to his side to help him. She couldn’t have been the one who drove those arseholes away. That voice was very different from hers. There were two other people with her — one he recognised as her adopted little brother, Hitsugaya Toushiro, and the other was a short-haired girl in their secondary school uniform. He couldn’t really see her, though as she was crouched down, tying her shoelace. She looked kind of… tiny.

“Rukia- _ san _ was the one who landed that punch on Jaegerjaquez,” Hinamori giggled. “She was awesome. It’s too bad you didn’t get to see it. She absolutely knocked the daylights out of him.”

He didn’t know who that Rukia was but she had to be extremely strong to be able to throw Grimmjow like that. Being two years older, that guy was at least one head taller than Ichigo, who hadn’t experienced his growth spurt even as he was turning 13 this year. 

Steadying himself on his feet, he gestured to Hinamori -- damn it, even Hinamori was taller than him -- that he could stand on his own. He was only a little disoriented from the hit on the head earlier. “Thank you for…” he began, but was surprised into silence when that Rukia girl rose to her feet. 

She really  _ was _ tiny; even tinier than he had expected. Ichigo was short but she barely reached his shoulders. How the fuck did she manage to whack Grimmjow in the face?

“Do you need to go to the hospital?” Rukia asked, her face devoid of any expressions. Heck, there wasn’t even a trace of evidence that she had just thrown a punch at someone twice her size, let alone knocking the giant dude into next week!

“Er…” Ichigo stammered. Partly because his male ego was downright bruised for being saved by a girl way smaller than him and  _ kami, those eyes… _ There was an awkward silence as Ichigo continued to stare into her big, round not-blue-not-violet orbs that practically made the bigger part of her face.

It was 10-year-old Hitsugaya who broke the silence when he scoffed. “Are we going to stand around and watch as Kurosaki falls in love at first sight or should we get to school before your Principal expels all three of you?”

Ichigo threw the snowy-haired boy a menacing glare; while behind him, Hinamori snickered in amusement. He absolutely did not appreciate being embarrassed by another kid who’s also way smaller than him. For a short while, he thought getting thrashed by Nnoitra and his gang was less humiliating than the position he was in right now. 

“I’m fine,” he huffed, turning back to Rukia. “Nothing that the school clinic won’t be able to fix. Thanks.”

Rukia shrugged, taking a few steps to pick up his school bag from the ground and handing it to him. “We should get to school, then.”

“Yeah, let’s walk together! We need to drop my brother off at the primary school, though,” Hinamori said as they began walking. 

Karakura Primary School was on the opposite side of the road from the secondary school. Throughout their journey, it was only Hinamori who was talking away. Her brother appeared irritated by her neverending chatter but didn't make any comments apart from the occasional scoffs and snorts. Back when they were classmates the previous school year, Ichigo couldn’t stand her chirpiness either. But for some reason, he didn’t mind listening to her this morning. Probably because he got a lot of information on his little saviour who was walking quietly beside him. 

Up-close, she didn’t look that much smaller than him even though it was true that the crown of her head only reached his shoulder. He learnt from Hinamori that Rukia -- Kuchiki Rukia was her full name and Ichigo swore he’d heard that family name somewhere before -- was one year their junior but she’d been attending classes one year ahead of her age ever since she was six. She grew up in Shibuya, even though her family was one of the noble families of Karakura Town. 

_ Ah, that’s right. The Kuchiki, Shiba, Katagiri, Kurosaki, and Shihouin families were all part of the Great Noble Families of Karakura. _

Instead of attending the Shibuya Elite Secondary School this year, her adoptive brother, Kuchiki Byakuya had decided that she went back to their hometown to continue her studies at Karakura Secondary School.

After dropping off Hitsugaya, the three 1st Form students crossed the road to their school. Stopping at the main door, Ichigo turned around to thank Kuchiki and Hinamori one more time for coming to his aid.

“We should get you to the clinic first?” Kuchiki said.

“It’s fine,” Ichigo replied, his hand rubbing his neck anxiously -- a peculiar habit he had only recently developed. “I’ll find my way there.”   
“No. We should go with you,” the small girl insisted as she entered the school building, turning around briefly to make sure he and Hinamori were following her. 

As stubborn as he naturally was, Ichigo could sense that Kuchiki held a lot of power in her being, especially in those eyes that could pierce a hole into your soul and she wasn’t someone anyone would mess with. Nnoitra and his gang scampering away under her command was more than evidence of this. Obediently, he started walking behind this girl who was not only smaller, but younger than him. 

“Isn’t she great? I’ve only known her for like two days,” Hinamori said, skipping excitedly beside him as they followed Kuchiki. Does she know her way around the school? They haven’t even started orientation yet.

Apparently, she did because she led them straight to the school clinic without losing her way. 

“How’d you…”

Kuchiki looked up at him as they arrived at the door of the clinic. “My brother insists that we know our way around a premise in advance, in case of an emergency,” she answered his unfinished question. 

Upon entering the clinic, she explained to the nurse -- who greeted her as ‘Kuchiki- _ san _ ’ the minute she entered and asked her how Kuchiki- _ sama _ was -- about Ichigo’s situation.

“We’ll lodge a report to Kyouraku  _ Kouchou-sensei _ about Gilga and his friends later. At the moment, I’ll take a look at Kurosaki- _ san _ and make sure he doesn’t have a concussion or further injuries. The two of you should head to class,” the nurse told them, gesturing for Ichigo to lie on the hospital examination table.

And that was the last he had seen of the two girls that morning… or so, he thought.

* * *

Rukia and Momo found out from the student list on the notice board that they were both going to be in the same class: Form 1-1. The first two hours of the morning were spent on introduction to the secondary school, their teachers, extra-curricular activities and clubs, and all the subjects pertaining to their school year -- most of which Rukia had already researched on prior to her transfer to Karakura. Byakuya  _ Nii-sama _ always made sure they had all the information in hand way ahead of time. That was part of their Kuchiki training. They were always prepared.

The Kuchiki Nobles were part of the Great Noble Families of Karakura. Each noble family had their own public-listed giant corporation as Karakura was the business hub of Tokyo. The corporations played a huge part in the life of these families, so much so that their heir apparent was trained from the age of 13 to take over as the Head of Corporation when they came of age at 18. That was the tradition and part of the regulations set by the Giant Corporation Consortium of Karakura, in which each corporation was to be represented by three of their top management members. 

Rukia wasn’t the heir apparent to the Kuchiki Corps’ Head of Corporation. But her brother made sure it was part of her Kuchiki training, anyway. Even though her training officially began this year, she had already gone through most part of the history lesson with regards to the Noble Families and the Giant Corporations. Based on that, she learnt that there were four other noble families beside the Kuchikis, which is the oldest family founded in Karakura.

The second oldest was the Shibas. They run the Shiba Corporation and their business was mostly medical-based, ranging from hospitals, to hospital universities and training centres, pharmaceuticals and medical R&Ds.

After that, came the Katagiris and the Kurosakis whose businesses underwent a merger in 1963 when Kurosaki Motors Corporation acquired the Katagiri Financial Group to save the latter from bankruptcy and formed Katagiri-Kurosaki Holdings. Also, because the Kurosaki Head of Corporation married one of the Katagiri heirs. 

Based on her calculations, Rukia had come to the conclusion that Kurosaki Ichigo was most probably the grandson of this couple and if she guessed it right, he was also the heir apparent to the Head of Katagiri-Kurosaki Holdings. Whether he was aware of it, she wasn’t sure. He didn’t seem like the proud and arrogant heir-in-training she had met during her travels all over Japan.

Finally, there was the Shihouins -- a traditional martial arts and Japanese sports family. Although their family was founded back in the 18th century, their business, Shihouin Corporation was public-listed only recently under the leadership of Shihouin Yoruichi, a fellow heir-in-training student with  _ Nii-sama _ years ago.

Kuchiki Corps had two core businesses; namely aviation and education. All the schools and universities in Karakura were founded by them, some of which they still had a prominent amount of shares. (This explained Rukia’s access to all the information before she started her year at Karakura Secondary School.) After moving their base to Shibuya in the 1950s, Kuchiki Corps had taken over some of the most prestigious education institutions all over Japan. The aviation side of the business started out as her adoptive grandfather, Kuchiki Ginrei’s hobby. But being the Midas of Japan himself, everything he touched turned into gold. As did Kuchiki Corps’ aviation arm.

Rukia’s attention was brought back to her class when Ose- _ sensei _ mentioned her name and all eyes in the room turned towards her.

“I am aware that there are two students in my class who will be undergoing their training as Heads of Corporation this year. You are one of them, Kuchiki- _ san _ . I know you will travel to the different parts of Japan for at least three days every month for such training. However, I expect you to excel in your regular classes here in Karakura nonetheless. You may be excused from your classes where there is a clash of schedule. But all your assignments must be handed in on time,” Ose- _ sensei _ continued in her stern voice.

Rukia stood up and gave her a respectful bow. “Hai,  _ Sensei _ .” To this day, she wondered if her Form Teacher had something against heirs-in-training. The way she lay down her rules for Rukia sounded like she was expecting her to be distracted or even fail her subjects in school. It was obvious Ose- _ sensei _ had no clue about how serious Rukia was about all her commitments. She was trained to be hard on herself and give her all to whatever she committed herself to.

After the morning session, she spent her lunch hour with Momo, who went on and on about how she was caught by surprise when Ose- _ sensei _ announced that Rukia was undergoing training as the next Head of Kuchiki Corps.

“You should’ve told me earlier!” Momo exclaimed. As usual, there was excitement in her voice, earning them curious looks from the other students sitting close by at the lunch hall.

“Does it really matter?” Rukia asked after she had swallowed her  _ tamagoyaki _ .  _ Nii-sama _ didn’t allow her to speak with her mouth full of food.

“Of course, it does! Do you know how rare it is to be acquainted with an heir apparent?”

“I’m not an heir apparent.  _ Nii-sama _ just wants me to be trained in case something happens to him before he gets an heir,” Rukia said quietly. 

It was part truth.  _ Nii-sama _ really wanted her to be trained in case something happened to him. But she knew he would probably never get an heir of his own, if his perpetual black outfit was anything to go by. You see,  _ Nii-sama _ was still mourning the death of his wife, Hisana, who was also Rukia’s biological sister. It’s been five painful years for him. For some reason, Rukia couldn’t remember much about her sister except for the memory of a rainy day where she was standing before a big lump of freshly piled-up soil. Beside her,  _ Nii-sama _ stood rigid while his pale hand held her small one in a death grip as if fearing she would slip and be swallowed up by her sister’s grave. 

In their home back in Shibuya,  _ Nii-sama _ had a shrine room built for Hisana- _ nee _ . She was 25 when she died. They had been married since they were 18 and Rukia was just a baby then. Despite knowing the history of the Great Noble Families and the Giant Corporations of Karakura by heart, Rukia knew very little about Hisana- _ nee _ and how they had come to be married at such a young age.  _ Nii-sama _ never talked to her about her sister. The one time Rukia managed to ask her grandfather about it, he only said it had something to do with her previous family threatening them for inheritance and that she should ask her brother instead, as it wasn’t the old man’s story to tell.

For as long as Rukia could remember,  _ Nii-sama _ had always been immersed in their family business. Life growing up with him was strict and orderly. They were 18 years apart and he could pass as her father instead of her brother. But Rukia never experienced any affection that resembled either of these roles from him. She wasn’t blind to see how her classmates’ fathers treated their daughters and she could see the vast differences in their families. The older brothers would sometimes pull pranks on their younger siblings but they were protective of them all the same. 

Back at home, Rukia and her brother were like strangers who would occasionally sit at the dinner table for a silent meal. When he did talk to her, it would only be about school and in the most recent years, her training to enter the Kuchiki Corps in the future. Rukia didn’t mind the coldness, though. She knew her  _ Nii-sama _ cared for her in his quiet way. 

Rukia caught him kneeling in front of her sister’s shrine last year. It was early in the morning before she went to school. When she got back that evening, he was still there, sitting in a  _ seiza _ . One of the elderly servants of the house told her it was her sister’s death anniversary that day. It must’ve been hard for  _ Nii-sama _ to marry someone who was obviously the love of his life even at such a young age, only to watch her die seven years later. On top of that, he had adopted his wife’s sister and brought her up as his own.

“Who do you think the other heir-in-training is?” Momo asked all of a sudden. “Ose- _ sensei _ said there are two in our class this year.”

Rukia had a feeling it was Kurosaki Ichigo. Momo had told her that they were in the same year. Although, she wasn’t sure if they would be in the same class. There were two other 1st Form classes. 

However, she wasn’t going to tell Momo of her suspicions. At least not until it was confirmed. If her knowledge of the history was accurate, the heir apparent to the Katagiri-Kurosaki Holdings could also come from the Katagiris. Right now, she was glad Momo had eventually lowered her voice. Rukia was starting to get quite put out by the unwanted attention they were getting from around their lunch table. Despite that, she had to admit that she quite liked Momo’s company. Their personalities were heaven-and-earth apart but Rukia had felt nothing but good vibes around Momo. 

Rukia never had friends growing up in Shibuya. Well, there was Abarai Renji but that annoying red-headed baboon was another story to tell. Speaking of whom, she wondered why she hadn’t seen him in the school. He was supposed to be in 2nd Form here in Karakura Secondary School this year. When he was back at the Kuchiki Manor in Shibuya last month, Ginrei  _ Ojii-sama _ had told him to look out for Rukia when she entered the secondary school.

_ “Rukia beats the crap out of me every time I’m home,  _ Jii-sama _. She should be the one looking out for me,” _ the bloody baboon replied, smirking at her. Rukia fought the urge to roll her eyes in the presence of her grandfather. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live under the same roof as her childhood friend when she moved to Karakura.

Surprisingly, though, she hadn’t seen much of him in the last few days she had settled down at their Kuchiki Estate here. To her relief, she found out his quarters were on the west wing of the estate, while hers was on the east wing. Grandfather must’ve let him choose that side because Renji couldn’t stand the morning sun.  _ The spoilt brat… _

Just before the bell rang to indicate the end of their lunch, Rukia caught a glimpse of bright hair passing by the window of the lunch hall. Two bright heads — one orange and one red. There couldn’t have been more than one fire engine redhead in Karakura, could there?

She and Momo got up from their table to leave the lunch hall, discarding their used tray on their way out. Momo was still chatting away about the mysterious heir-in-training she was dying to know. By the time they had arrived back at their classroom, Rukia had missed at least half of what Momo was talking about as she herself was lost in her thoughts.

“Oh hey, Rukes,” a familiar voice called her from behind. 

She turned around to see Renji grinning by the door of their classroom, a bandaged Kurosaki Ichigo beside him. “You’re in the same class as the sherbet here.”

“Shut up, Renji.” Ichigo grumbled, elbowing the redhead.

Rukia huffed, “What are you doing here?”

Renji shrugged. “Just dropping off my new little brother.”

“I am not your little brother, baboon!”

Rukia found it amusing that Kurosaki had given Renji the same nickname she gave him when they were younger. 

“What is it with the two of you calling me a baboon?” he asked, feigning irritation. “Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Are you signing up for  _ kendo _ club?”

“Yes,” Rukia replied, assuming he was talking to her. “We’re doing ECA next.”

“Good. Get him to sign up, too. The kid really needs it. I can’t be watching over him all the time,” Renji chuckled, getting another sharp elbow in his ribs. “Gotta go. See you guys later.”

Momo, who had been holding her tongue throughout the entire exchange earlier, bombarded both Rukia and Kurosaki with questions about that redhead as they got to their seats. While Rukia was also curious about how Kurosaki and Renji knew each other, she decided not to talk about it until school was out.

* * *

It seemed natural to walk out of the class together once school was out. Once again, Hinamori was the one yapping away as they walked out of school. This time, Ichigo was seriously feeling irritated. His head was throbbing for his next dose of painkillers as the effects of the previous one was quickly subsiding by the second. 

“I can’t believe the two of you had signed up for three out of four of the same clubs! You weren’t even sitting together. Did you discuss this beforehand?” Hinamori went on and on about it before she remembered she had to get her brother from across the road. “Oh, could you guys wait for me at the gate? I’ll run over to get Shiro- _ chan _ and then we’ll walk home together.”

Ichigo swore there was some undiagnosed ADHD in the girl. Or bipolar. Or something. He wouldn’t know the difference. “My headache is back,” he murmured as they came to a stop outside the school gate.

“And Momo’s rambling is making it worse, huh? Do you have the painkillers with you? Do you need water?” Kuchiki asked, digging into the side pocket of her backpack for her flask.

“It’s fine. I’ll take it once I get home,” he said, eyeing the flask, not really sure if he should drink from  _ her _ flask. They had only met this morning.

But Kuchiki shook the flask in his face again. “Take it now before she comes back. You’re going to need it.”

Ichigo hesitated before he fished a rattling bottle out from the pocket of his blazer. Popping a couple of pills into his mouth, he grabbed the flask from her and took a few quick gulps to down them with.

“What did you sign up for?” Kuchiki asked, retrieving her flask once he was done with it.

“English Literature, Basketball, Football, and Kendo,” he listed the clubs, counting them off with his fingers. “You?”

“English Literature, Basketball, Kendo, and Arts,” she replied. “You’re not taking up  _ kendo _ just because Renji said you should, right?”

“Nah…” Ichigo shook his head, regretting it immediately as the painkillers had not taken effect yet. “I’m sitting for my  _ shodan _ exam at the end of this month. I’ve been training at the Shihouin Dojo since I was four.”

“Huh…” Kuchiki huffed, folding her arms across her chest. “Then why didn’t you fight back this morning?”

Ichigo chuckled. “I’d like to say that I was caught off-guard, that it was one against five, and that I was weak from not having had breakfast…”

“But?”

Ichigo swallowed a lump building up in his throat as he mindlessly rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t usually fight back?”

“Why?” Kuchiki asked. She sounded incredulous and… disappointed?

“Because…” he heaved a long sigh. “Because fighting back never solved anything.”

“It’s called self-defence, Kurosaki, and that’s what learning  _ kendo _ is for, besides all the character discipline and cultural development and spiritual cultivation and whatever, whatever…”

“Yeah, I get it. I’d use it if I had to protect someone else who was in trouble. I’d use it if it was a life-or-death situation. But not… You wouldn’t understand, Kuchiki,” he left it at that, inclining his head to stare at their shoes.

And now that he’d said her name out loud, he realised where he had seen her name recently. Kuchiki Rukia would be starting the Head of Corporation training this year with him. He recalled his dad telling him about the Giant Corporation Consortium of Karakura making an exception for a 12-year-old to join the rest of the 13-year-old heirs apparent this year. The Head of each Corporation would take turns to serve as the President of the Consortium for a term of two years. The position was rotated among the four corporations. This year, Kurosaki Isshin was serving in that position, representing the Katagiri-Kurosaki Holdings. That was how Ichigo had been getting all the first-hand news about the Giant Corporations of Karakura. Although, most of the time, he couldn’t be bothered about them.

“It’s Rukia,” she paused, letting it sink in that she preferred to be addressed by her first name. “You say you’d use it to protect someone else. What about protecting yourself? How serious should your injuries be for you to see them beating you up as a life-or-death situation?” 

Ichigo looked up at her, surprised to hear her ask. How would he be able to respond to all her questions when he wasn’t even sure of the answer himself?

“I’m sorry,” she continued before he could say anything. “I shouldn’t have questioned you and you probably won’t tell me anyway, seeing as how we’ve just met this morning and it’s your personal problem. For me to keep asking would be prying too much. But if you’re willing to, I’d like you to help me understand why you, as a  _ kendoka _ who’s almost at your 1st  _ dan _ , wouldn’t want to fight back in self-defence. Definitely not now, I mean. Whenever or if ever you’re ready to talk to me.”

Ichigo was at a loss for words by the time Ku…  _ Rukia _ had finished talking. One part of him wondered how this girl who was smaller and younger than him could speak to him like a grown up… even more than most adults he’d known in his almost 13 years of life -- his own goofy father included. Yes, that old man who’s also the current President of the Giant Corporation Consortium of Karakura. The other part of him felt completely drawn to her as he thought to himself that maybe someday, he  _ would _ talk to her. Someday, when he knew the answers to her questions, the answers about himself that he had been searching for all along.

He was still staring into Rukia’s violet-blue eyes when Hinamori and Hitsugaya came up on the pavement beside them, the bubbly girl apologising for taking too long at the primary school because her brother’s teacher had something to tell her. Before they started walking, Abarai Renji came out of the school gate to join them as well. 

“I suppose I’ve got to walk you kiddies home today, in case Nnoitra Gilga and his minions show up along the way,” he declared with an exaggerated sigh, his arms crossed behind his head as he walked ahead of them.

Ichigo scoffed. “You’re just doing it because your girlfriend is not walking home on her first day of school.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, right,” Ichigo scoffed. “You waited for her outside the primary school last year and walked her home every day.”

“Not  _ every _ day…”

“Hold it,” Rukia interrupted. “You have a girlfriend? Was that the reason why you spent only two weeks in Shibuya during the March holidays? I’m going to tell Grandpa. Oh, this is going to be great.”

“Don’t you dare, Kuchiki. That’s not why…”

“Oh, that’s right,” Ichigo cut in this time. “I remember you helping out at the  _ dojo _ two weeks before school reopened. You were sucking up to Sora- _ sensei _ , weren’t you?”

“What the fuck? No!”

Hinamori gasped, “Sora- _ sensei _ ? Is your girlfriend Inoue Orihime?”

“Urgh! No! She’s  _ not _ my girlfriend!”

Ichigo laughed out loud at how red Renji’s face was, practically rivalling his hair, as he stomped his way ahead of them. Hinamori didn’t hesitate to fill Rukia in on who Inoue Sora was -- a  _ kendo _ instructor at the Shihouin Dojo where Hitsugaya, Renji, and Ichigo trained. Inoue Orihime was his sister who dropped by at the  _ dojo  _ every evening after school. Their parents died when Orihime was three, so it was just the two of them. Sora- _ sensei  _ was a 3rd- _ dan kendoka _ whom Shihouin Yoruichi had hired as one of her junior instructors to train kids who were at  _ kyu _ levels.

They arrived at the Kuchiki Estate 15 minutes later, with a sour-faced Renji and a look of triumph on Kuchiki Rukia. Ichigo could almost see the gears working inside her head on the pranks she could pull over this… friend?... of hers. 

Ichigo wasn’t sure how they were related but apparently, they were both staying at the Kuchiki Estate, judging by how Renji had the remote control to open the gate. When Ichigo first met Renji at the  _ dojo _ , the latter had been a student of the Karakura Boarding School since he was seven. Granted, he knew Renji would go back to Shibuya every time there was a school holiday. He also knew Renji had moved out after he finished his primary education there to enrol into Karakura Secondary School. But other than that, the redhead never told him anything else about himself. 

Ichigo inwardly chuckled at the way Renji marched right through the tall gates of the estate without saying goodbye to any of them. Wasn’t he supposed to walk Ichigo home in case Nnoitra Gilga and his minion showed up? His house was still another 10 minutes’ walk away.

Beside him, Hinamori excused herself and her brother as Hitsugaya was complaining about getting hungry. Ichigo and Rukia were then left alone outside the Kuchiki Estate.

“I was going to ask if you’re going to be okay walking on your own. But then, I remember you’ll be getting your 1st  _ dan _ this year. I’m pretty sure you’ve been held back at 1st- _ kyu _ for a while because of the qualifying age,” Rukia spoke up and Ichigo realised they had both been staring after the comical stomping of Renji. 

“Two years. But that’s pretty normal. I started at the age of four. Got my 6th  _ dan _ when I was six. After that, I advanced one  _ dan _ every year.”

“That’s a very impressive record, Strawberry.”

“Strawberry?” Ichigo scowled. “Midget, my name means…”

“One who protects?” Rukia asked.

Ichigo was taken aback at how she knew the real meaning of his name. He’d usually have to give a long lecture to whomever made fun of his name. Even then, those people refused to believe him.

“I know, I know,” she smirked. “I read the history… and I do remember some bits and pieces. Shiba Isshin was a doctor. He met Kurosaki Masaki while he was saving her from a robbery. They got married. He named his son Ichigo because he wanted him to be a protector as well. They had twin daughters after him. I can’t remember their names. Your parents’ tale was the love story of Karakura’s Great Noble Families and...”

Ichigo watched as the colour suddenly drained from her face and he knew she had come to realise something…

“Oh, god. I’m so sorry, Ichigo.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I’m really, really sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s been three years.”  _ Since mum died, _ Ichigo couldn’t bring himself to say. It hurt to even think about it, especially because both  _ Okaa-chan _ and Kanae  _ Oba-chan _ died in the car crash he was in but he survived.

“Urgh… now I feel I should walk you home to make it up to you. Or would you rather be left alone? I don’t know. I’m sorry!”

Ichigo chuckled at the hilarity of her look of guilt. He’d usually get into a sour mood and lock himself up in his room when he was reminded of the tragic incident. This was the first time he had recovered so quickly from feeling depressed over the memory of his mother. And all because of this interesting character who had simply… astounded him ceaselessly throughout his first day of knowing her.

“I’m going to be okay, Midget. You saved my arse this morning. I’ll try to save my own if anything happens later.”

Rukia sighed, “Fine, fine. I’ll see you tomorrow if nothing happens. Otherwise, I’ll be sure to look your name up in the newspaper.”

Smirking back at her, Ichigo lifted a hand and walked away as Rukia entered the gates of the estate. But he didn’t get far before he heard her voice again.

“Hey!” she shouted after him, standing taller than she really was with her hands on her slim hips. “Did you just call me a midget?”

Ichigo could see that Nnoitra Gilga had every reason to run away, shitting in his pants just by looking at Kuchiki Rukia in her terrifying face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking too long to update this fic.

**Author's Note:**

> So here’s an IchiRuki AU that’s been in my BLEACH fanfiction folder for a long, long, long time. Posting this up now means I’ll be working on two fics side-by-side; the other one being The Dragon’s Queen, which I’d say, is about three-quarter done.
> 
> Do let me know what you think of this. The prologue is short. But the other chapters will be much longer. 
> 
> The reason why I put up that warning at the beginning of this chapter is because every time I wrote an IchiRuki fic, some IchiHime fans would drop nasty hate comments on my review. I don’t scout around for IchiHime fics to instigate ship wars with their shippers and fan fiction authors. Whomever they ship is their business. Life is too short for petty arguments like these. So if you’re not a fan of IchiRuki and you find it hard to keep your angry comments to yourself, do us all — both you and me — a favour and skip this fic and all my other fics. Thank you.


End file.
